Celebrating International Women’s Day: Recognizing the Women of CPM

Happy International Women’s Day! Today, people all around the world are celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. It’s a day to honor the incredible women who have fought for gender equality and to raise awareness about the ongoing work that needs to be done through equity.

At CPM, we are thrilled to join in this global celebration and recognize the vital contributions of our female employees. We’re also excited to share a special message from our CEO, Dave Webster, who believes in the importance of creating equal opportunities for women in the workplace. Plus, we spoke with Marie Lentz, the Chairperson of CPM’s Women’s Initiative Network (WIN), an employee resource group dedicated to empowering, connecting and supporting women. So, let’s dive in and celebrate the amazing women who make CPM thrive!

Message from Dave Webster, CEO:

“Every day, I am inspired by the women that I have the honor to work with at CPM. The women of CPM are the most talented group of women that I have worked with in my career. They have been critical to our purpose and mission and have driven key change and improvements within our organization. They have added new views to our Board of Directors and reshaped our planning, analytics and marketing. They are the bedrock of our financial organization and have elevated our engineering, purchasing and commercial organizations. As we celebrate International Women’s Day and the social, economic, cultural, and political achievement of women, please take the time to recognize the women of CPM.

While women have improved and impacted our business, we also know that we have a long way to go to reach true gender equality. In order for CPM to achieve its mission and advance its OneCPM principles, we must continue to create opportunities for and improve the lives of women within our organizations and, with purpose, continue to attract talented women to our organization. The continued progress and achievements of our community of women will only pave a way to make companies like CPM a better place to work and a better partner for our customers.

CPM is proud to offer its support to International Woman’s Day and we are committed to #EmbraceEquity.

Insights from Marie Lentz, Chairperson of WIN:

Through WIN, Marie believes that CPM is demonstrating its commitment to promoting gender equality and equity and supporting the professional development of women.

“The WIN mission is to be a community for women to be heard, and find the resources to advance their skills, awareness, and professional development, supported by CPM through networking, mentorship, and engagement,” said Marie. “We have set goals for this year to provide a platform for women to create sustainable professional networks and foster career development, to build a mentorship platform, and to promote a supportive working environment for the women of CPM.”

Each year, WIN members vote on 12 topics they want to delve into during the upcoming year. These monthly meetings last for an hour to an hour and a half, with two members leading a presentation and discussion on that month’s topic. The meetings allow women to share experiences and learn from each other, as well as developing important professional skills such as presenting, building a presentation, and leading meetings.

Marie emphasized the importance of having both male and female advocates in promoting gender equality and the benefits of having an Employee Resource Group like WIN.

“One important thing in reducing the gender equality gap is having male and female champions,” said Marie. “It’s extremely important for women as they grow and lead in an organization. And I think that the companies that have figured that out, have female presence throughout all levels of their organization, no matter what industry they’re in.”

Since its inception nearly one year ago, WIN has undertaken several initiatives to support the professional development of women at CPM including partnering with an organization to assign external mentors to 10 WIN members as a beginning step to building an internal mentor network, as well as plans to implement a speaker series featuring female leaders from other organizations. Overall, the members of WIN are already seeing the benefit of membership with more than 95% of the members reporting increased engagement at work.

In addition to the internal mentor network and speaker series, WIN has also created a global community to empower women in the workplace at CPM.

This community is composed of counterparts from different regions, including Asia, Europe, North America, and South America. Through this network, women are able to learn from each other and share their unique experiences, creating a more supportive and inclusive environment at CPM.

“We are all learning from each other and about each other, and we all have similar and different experiences to talk about,” said Marie.

One of the challenges that women can face in the corporate world is getting a seat at the table and having a voice when they are underrepresented as a group. WIN has worked to use its collective voice to bring attention to topics on behalf of all women of CPM and employees of CPM, for that matter. This has been effective for topics such as benefits, policies, and flexible work schedules.

As Marie shared, the network has expanded to include the Asia region with its own language-specific WIN group to address time zone and language barriers. The expansion has shown strong interest and increased the region’s group membership from four to around 20, highlighting the importance of recognizing and addressing barriers that may prevent women from feeling fully included and heard in the workplace.

Empowering Women Across CPM:

CPM’s WIN has made great strides in supporting, connecting and empowering women in the workplace. From the mentoring program to the opportunities to build presentation confidence and experience through its monthly meetings to the creation of a global community, WIN has provided women at CPM with resources and connections to help them succeed.

“I admire the level of talent, grit and strength that the women of CPM hold and bring to work every day,” said Marie. “Please take the time on International Women’s Day to celebrate all that you and your female colleagues do. And thank you for your hard work and contributions.”

On this International Women’s Day, let us celebrate the accomplishments of women at CPM and around the world, and continue to work towards a more equitable and inclusive future.

More Articles